Midland unemployment holds steady in September

Published 12:45 pm, Friday, October 21, 2011

Unemployment in Midland held steady in September, according to figures released Friday by the Texas Workforce Commission.

Midland's unemployment rate inched up to 4.9 percent from 4.8 percent in August and is just below the 5 percent reported in September 2010. The city continued to report the state's lowest unemployment, followed by Amarillo with 6 percent and Odessa with 6.2 percent. Midland was the only metropolitan statistical area in Texas with a rate below 5 percent.

Lisa Givens, director of communications for the commission, said the state was second only to Florida in job gains and that eight of the 11 industrial sectors showed gains in September. Consistent growth in the Professional and Business Services has been observed, with the sector in Midland growing 5.5 percent annually. Construction and mining and logging are also positive sectors, she added.

The commission said the number of non-farm jobs was unchanged from August to September at 70,800. Midland's labor force grew by about 200 residents while the number of employed residents and unemployed residents also moved slightly higher.

Willie Taylor, chief executive officer of the commission's Workforce Solutions Permian Basin, said the data could be reflecting seasonal trends as job losses in manufacturing, trade, transportation and utilities and leisure and hospitality were offset by gains in education and health services and in government. Taylor called September a "break-even" month.

"It's been a good story for so many months," he said. "We continue to see initial unemployment claims go down. Wages continue to be real steady; it's a job-seeker's market."

AT&T announced Friday it is hiring sales staff for its Midland retail store at 4400 N. Midland Drive as the company expands customer support for its wireless, DirectTV and U-verse offerings.

"As AT&T continues to invest in our network and expand our customer base in Midland/Odessa, we're committed to providing excellent customer service," said Melissa Rushefski, a recruiter for AT&T. "We are dedicated to making sure that our customers have the best resources to stay connected at work or play."

Interested applicants are urged to apply online at http://attlinks.com/Midland-Odessa or stop by the Midland store from noon to 2 p.m. todayto speak to an AT&T recruiter.

Taylor noted that Midland's labor force has grown by about 1,000 residents over the past 12 months.

"We could stand to see another 2,000 with the right set of skills," he said, then added housing remains a barrier. "It's difficult for those trying to recruit people to the area who are having difficulty finding housing."

If oil prices remain healthy, he predicted current labor market trends will continue. "Rain and more housing and we'd be truly blessed," he said.

Low unemployment and a healthy oil patch are good news and bad news for Mike Loren, district manager for Pizza Hut. As the company renovates its restaurant on Wadley Avenue, he said the remodeled location would require twice the staff.

"It's good the unemployment is so low because people have money and they go out to eat," he said. "It's bad because it makes hiring difficult."

He said the oil fields pay about $20 an hour compared to $8 or $9 for his restaurant.

"Our struggle is not only to find employees," Loren said. "We can get applications coming in the door. I can put a 'help wanted' sign out front and get 15 applications a week. We get plenty of applications, but most are people who don't fit in with our team. It's really a screening process."

"On top of that," he continued, "the restaurant business is not always an easy business." He noted that he worked at Blockbuster Video for several years, and if a customer was told a DVD was out, he'd go find another movie. But at Pizza Hut, he said, if a customer is told it will be another 15 to 20 minutes before their food is ready, they can become quite rude and that is difficult for a 16-year-old or 17-year-old to handle. Plus, he said he needs to be flexible to accommodate those 16-year-old or 17-year-old employees.

"Sometimes we lose track, when we're 30 or 40 of how important something was when we were 16 or 17," he said. "We may think it's not a big thing, but when you're 16 or 17, it's the end of the world if you can't go out with your boyfriend. It's not our place to determine what your life memories will be."

Loren said he also wants a diverse set of employees so that some can take time off for, say, the prom or Homecoming or graduation.

"There's a bunch of different challenges," he said. "Plus, many people are earning good wages in Midland, so good that their teenagers don't need to work. Mom and Dad can pay for everything so they tell the kids, 'Have fun, focus on school.' So there's not only a group that doesn't want a job but a group that doesn't need a job."

Statewide, the unemployment rate held steady at 8.5 percent, adding 15,400 new jobs. The commission revised the number of jobs lost in August to 21,600 from the originally reported 1,300.

While Midland reported the lowest rate, the highest was in Brownsville-Harlingen at 12.4 percent.

Mella McEwen can be reached at mmcewen@mrt.com.

The preliminary local jobless rates for September, with revised August numbers in parentheses, were: